Renew Your Land with Prairie Restoration Services in Long Grove, Illinois
We are committed to natural area restoration in the greater Chicago area, including Long Grove, Illinois. In fact, McGinty Bros. has been actively restoring and managing prairies and other types of natural areas for over 30 years. Our extensive experience and large staff of natural area experts makes us the obvious choice for any renewal or restorative work you have in mind.
Who do we help out most with our natural area management services? The natural area projects we work on range from very small to very large, so our customers also vary. We provide native habitat restoration services to:
- private landowners
- corporate properties
- county forest preserves
- conservation districts
- park districts
- governmental agencies
- many landscape designers and consultants
McGinty works on about 100 natural area projects in any given year. Our job is to turn back time for areas of open land. We want to return it to the way it was before it was settled in the 19th century. If there was prairie there, we want to let the prairie grow there again. If there was a forest there, we want to return it to a forest. If the area used to be wetlands, then we're committed to creating wetlands again. Whatever types of plants grew there before people civilized the area and brought with them seeds and plants from other lands, we want to allow those native plants to once again flourish. To achieve natural area restoration, we incorporate a number of useful services:
- pre-installation herbicide applications
- soil preparation
- seeding using a variety of different methods (such as hydroseeding, drill seeding, and broadcast seeding)
- herbaceous plug planting
- shrub and tree planting
- selective herbicide applications
- prescribed burning
This combination of skilled scientific methods and creative imagination leads to a growing trend toward native land restoration in the Long Grove area and other neighboring places. Continue reading to learn more about the different things we do.
Restoring Your Land's Ecological Value is a Process
We can't wave a magic wand and transform your area of land into a natural restoration area. It takes time and perseverance. The staff who works on our natural area projects are highly experienced, many of them holding advanced degrees in natural resource fields. They use their knowledge to understand what the land was like before it became degraded. There are clues that we follow: natural traits that have remained despite the years of abuse. We may find some of the native flora, or we may discover that an upland area still has great potential to be as productive as it once was. After we determine what it once looked like, and we determine what it is still capable of, we can work to renew its ecological value.
Restoration does involve destruction. We need to control, treat, and remove invasive plants that don't belong in the native area. Our licensed herbicide applicators will use necessary applications to get the weeds under control. We have suitable equipment for doing this job on small areas and also on large, open areas. Are you ready to let an expert manage your natural area in Long Grove? McGinty can set up a plan that will work.
Prairie Restoration is Achievable on Your Long Grove Residential or Commercial Landscape
Maybe you are very interested in prairie restoration, but you don't own much land. That's okay. We don't plan on uprooting the city and returning everything back to prairie. We work with what is manageable, and so can you. Your small plot of land might be perfect for a rain garden or a bioswale.
Plant a Native Garden to Attract Wildlife
A native rain garden consists of native species of plants. It looks beautiful, does not need much maintenance, and it attracts wildlife. Hummingbirds, monarch butterflies, dragonflies, and toads will make your life colorful and interesting as you enjoy your native garden. Plus, the insects that love your garden and the way the garden soaks up rainwater will naturally control your mosquito population. This economical method of restoring prairie land benefits you and the ecosystem.
Create an All-Natural Gutter for a Water Runoff Solution
A bioswale is a fancy term for an all-natural gutter. Storm water runoff filters through the bioswale. It is good for large areas that produce a lot of water runoff, such as parking lots and roadways. The bioswale is usually long and deep, and full of native plants that will survive heavy rain conditions (and also drought conditions). Our natural area restoration experts can create a bioswale that will manage your runoff in the most natural way possible.
Prescribed Burns Control Weeds and Promote Native Plants
You've seen controlled fires before, and maybe you were thankful you weren't the person in charge of controlling it. There are people who have specific licenses* to do a prescribed burn, and some of those talented people work for McGinty Bros.
Prescribed burns achieve the following results:
- weedy species are controlled
- built-up vegetation is burnt up
- native plants are given space to grow
While a prescribed burn might look risky and destructive, it's actually helpful. It improves the ecological value of the land, and it's part of natural area restoration and management. The McGinty Bros. can offer prescribed burns at different times of the year to target different types of weeds.
*Our burn boss and crew members are currently licensed with the Department of Natural Resources and have S-130/S-190 Basic Wildlife Fire Training.
Landscape Erosion Solutions Solved Here
Part of the degradation of natural areas comes from soil erosion. Sediment gets swept away by water or blown away by the wind, and it changes the landscape. McGinty has years of experience in solving erosion problems. We know how to stabilize a shoreline or a stream bank using riffle construction. We have also completed intensive shore armament projects with a-jacks and rip rap installations. These projects require a lot of work and a lot of skill. If your erosion problem doesn't require that much construction and manpower, we could try a less invasive solution, such as:
- brush mats
- coir fiber rolls
- deep-rooted native vegetation
- live stakes
- vegetated geo-grids
Are we still on the same page? It's okay if you're confused. This is why we are the experts; we can take a look at what's going on in your natural area and suggest an erosion solution that will work.
Your Free Site Evaluation is a Phone Call Away
When it's all said and done, a natural area looks like it belongs on your Long Grove property. If you desire to restore part of your land to its original ecological value, please give us a call. We'll set up a free site evaluation and take a look at what you have. You are under no obligation to accept any proposal we offer. The professional knowledge and experience of McGinty Bros., Inc. far extends that of our competitors, so we encourage you to contact us and get your prairie restoration project underway.
